Heavy Networking
Packet Pushers
Heavy Networking is an unabashedly nerdy dive into all things networking. Described by one listener as "verbal white papers," the weekly episodes feature network engineers, industry experts, and vendors sharing useful information to keep your professional knowledge sharp and your career growing. Hosts Ethan Banks & Drew Conry-Murray cut through the marketing spin to explore what works—and what doesn't—in networking today, while keeping an eye on what's ahead for the industry. On air since 2010, Heavy Networking is the flagship show of the Packet Pushers podcast network.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 25, 2025 • 48min
HN789: How a Global Payments Processor Automates Firewall Changes at Scale
Ayden is a global payments processor whose primary business is providing payment services for merchants, retailers, and venues, as well as online payments. On today’s Heavy Networking we talk about a firewall automation project the company has undertaken. With dozens of change requests coming in every day that need to touch network and host firewalls,... Read more »
Jul 18, 2025 • 52min
HN788: Behind Megaport’s Network Automation Platform (Sponsored)
We have a network automation discussion for you today from sponsor Megaport. At the AutoCon3 conference earlier this year, Luke Gollan presented on a complex network automation project migrating Megaport’s API-driven software defined network from a legacy VXC overlay to an EVPN framework. This helped improve scalability, but was fraught with practical challenges, not the... Read more »
Jun 27, 2025 • 58min
HN787: Are We In a Post-SNMP Era?
SNMP is still widely used in today’s networks. But modern telemetry and network observability are bringing changes to network monitoring. Today’s Heavy Networking is a roundtable discussion about alternatives to SNMP and real-world use cases for those alternatives. This episode was inspired by a request from listener Nikolay. He says… While telemetry (gRPC, etc.) is... Read more »
Jun 20, 2025 • 50min
HN786: From Intent-Based to Autonomous Ops With Cisco Crosswork and Provider Connectivity Assurance (Sponsored)
Service provider networks face a couple of difficult challenges: how to map service level agreements to actual network health and performance, and how to deliver service assurance to customers regardless of what happens on the network. On today’s sponsored Heavy Networking we talk with Cisco Systems about its approach to service assurance, how Cisco is... Read more »
Jun 13, 2025 • 56min
HN785: How To Take Your First Steps Into Network Automation
There’s an old saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. On today’s show, we talk about taking your first step into network automation with guest Joseph Nicholson. He’s been automating at NTT Data for many years now and has some perspective to share. He’s a network engineer by trade,... Read more »
Jun 6, 2025 • 59min
HN784: Accelerate Your Network Automation With Gluware Labs and New Ansible Collection (Sponsored)
Network automation is today’s topic with sponsor Gluware. Gluware provides a network automation platform that targets both network engineers and automation builders. On today’s Heavy Networking, we discuss how Gluware supports these two constituencies. We also talk about a recent product announcement, Gluware Labs. Gluware Labs includes a free Community Edition of Gluware software you... Read more »
May 30, 2025 • 55min
HN783: BGP Routing Policy for Enterprise Networkers: Unpacking IRR and RPSL
In this discussion, Jason Ginterd, CTO at Lake Tech Communications and IRR volunteer, and Jake Kuhn, network architect at Fortanix, dive deep into the essentials of Internet Routing Registries (IRRs) and the Routing Policy Specification Language (RPSL). They highlight the critical role of these tools in preventing BGP hijacks. The duo explains the intricate BGP routing policies and shares insights on their historical evolution. Listeners learn about the operational dynamics of IRRs and practical tips for managing routing policies effectively.
May 23, 2025 • 59min
HN782: Netris Meets Your Network Automation Challenges in AI Data Centers (Sponsored)
Netris is tackling the issue of automating multi-tenancy in an AI data center. Netris has your answer to this challenge, and it’s a solution certified to work with NVIDIA. We’re going to get into the nuts and bolts of Netris network automation with Alex Saroyan, CEO and co-founder of Netris. Along the way, we will... Read more »
May 16, 2025 • 59min
HN781: CCIE Service Provider Free Workbook & Track Update
While studying for the CCIE Service Provider certification, Andrew Ohanian assembled a workbook to help him prepare. It’s packed with lab exercises, and Andrew has turned it into a free Web resource that anyone can access. On today’s Heavy Networking, we talk with Andrew about what’s in the guide, the state of the CCIE SP,... Read more »
May 9, 2025 • 1h 4min
HN780: The Whys and Hows of Automated Network Testing
Dan Wade, a network automation practice lead at Blue Ally and co-author of a Cisco Press book, dives into the world of network testing. He outlines the importance of testing before automation, highlighting four key types, including unit and integration tests. The discussion expands on modern protocols like Yang, RESTCONF, and NETCONF, emphasizing their roles in effective network management. Wade also shares insights on Python testing frameworks and the push for continuous compliance in network management, paving the way for streamlined operations.
